Scrap Wood Patio Table

The idea began based on a patio bench that I previously made. We wanted something to match that. I also wanted to get rid of some of the hoard of cut-offs and scraps that I can never seem to throw out. The base and top frame are all pressure treated wood leftovers from old or abandoned projects. The six panels are a mish mash of all manner of scraps and just rest inside the rabbetted bits of the top frame. The whole thing was designed to be taken apart easily for winter storage but still have an acceptable amount of rigidity and weight load.

I worried a lot about wood movement as well, especially on the mid-span butt joints. To combat, there’s a good deal of titebond III. The 2 spacers on either side of the butt joints have a total of 8 nails and wherever possible are sistered in to the neighboring solid slat with 1.25” nails as well. I haven’t load tested it, but I’m confident about a platter of short ribs not being a problem. Oh and I think most of the slats have a nails at the ends anchoring to the frames. Glad to have bought the big box of 5/8”.

The only thing I worry about is the finger joints. I had a screen door made with finger-jointed lumber and it completely fell apart in about 3 years. But a door frame has much higher loads than a table. That experience just set me against finger-joints in outdoor stuff.